Nottingham Forest-supporting pundit Darren Fletcher has claimed that he was impressed with Harry Toffolo during Saturday’s draw with Wolves.
The 27-year-old replaced Renan Lodi in the starting line-up and the BT Sport commentator has hailed him on the Garibaldi Red Podcast.
Interestingly, it was Toffolo’s first start since October. On that occasion, he lined up in the starting eleven against Wolves in the reverse fixture at Molineux.
Toffolo has been largely viewed as a backup opinion since he signed from Huddersfield. He almost left on loan in January, with a deal struck with Anderlecht.
Forest pulled the plug on that deal, however. They decided that they couldn’t afford to let him leave and on Saturday, he took his chance quite well.
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Now, Fletcher has used his platform to praise the left-back who played for around an hour of the home draw against Wolves.
He told the Garibaldi Red Podcast: “Fair play to Harry Toffolo, I’ve got to say. When you come into the team and face Adama Traore, that’s a tough task for any player in the Premier League let alone one who hasn’t played for a while.”
Traore’s pace did cause Toffolo some problems. He was cautioned by referee Chris Kavanagh but largely he coped quite well up against the speed demon of a winger.
Fletcher impressed with Toffolo and he deserves praise
It was a very sound performance by Toffolo considering that his appearances recently have come from the bench in the closing stages of games.
Lodi is likely to remain Steve Cooper’s number-one left-back. However, it does showcase that Toffolo is ready should he be needed again this season.
Toffolo scored six goals and registered eight assists during 2021/22. That promoted Forest to sign Toffolo after they beat his Huddersfield team at Wembley.
On Saturday he was handed a tough assignment of keeping Traore quiet. He did so with aplomb and received a standing ovation when he was substituted.
The challenge for Toffolo is simply to keep working hard. If he does that, Cooper shouldn’t have any hesitations in handing him another chance before the season is out.